Practice Run

The weather on Sunday morning was cold, but dry, so I decided to make the journey and practice on the Mt Si course. It's about an hour and a half drive and I packed a duffel with everything "just in case" it rained, snowed, I needed water, gatorade, extra gu, a change of socks, an extra hat, plastic bags...I think I packed less when I went to Thailand.

I found the Snoqualmie Elementary school easily enough, but the trail access was not marked. Google Maps shows a road from Park Street through the Meadowbrook Slough, that does not exist. It turns out, the entry point is through the golf course. The first mile of the trail runs between two separate golf courses. Hearing the crack of the club hitting the ball and seeing the grass peppered with golf balls, I couldn't help but wonder, statistically, what my chances were of making it through without getting hit.
At about mile four, past North Bend, the trail ends and picks up again across a busy highway. I probably got in an extra quarter of a mile running back and forth waiting for the traffic to clear. At this point, I felt a little like Frogger.

So, that's pretty much the warm up and the rest of the trail is beautiful, very peaceful and serene. There are spots you can see the river below and mossy branches arching over the trail above you. It definitely distracts from the fact that you are climbing up.

I was able to run close to half of the course. It's reassuring to be able to train on the trail. During the week, I can run on the Tolt and that is pretty similar terrain. I just need to get the fueling worked in.